HP-Compaq Should Ally with Microsoft
Yahoo | at | by Mike
According to Goldman, the marketing methodologies of both Sun and IBM are framed as an old-fashioned battle between good and evil. Microsoft currently lacks a firm alliance with any hardware vendor to sell its .NET products and services. Both Goldman and his Yankee Group colleague Rob Perry argued in a research note released early this year that "HP and Compaq [need to] merge and tighten their relationship with Microsoft, dumping J2EE [Java 2 Enterprise Edition Platform] middleware products.
"Compaq convinces HP that Bluestone is a black hole, and that to win in the market it must pick a side. The combined company uses Compaq's strong Microsoft relationship to become the primary server platform for .NET and Biztalk," the analysts wrote. While Goldman said such a scenario may be unlikely, a merged HP-Compaq joining forces with Microsoft would push the server and services markets into three distinct camps: Sun-Java, IBM-Linux, and the high-tech Darth Vader, HP-Compaq-.NET. According to Goldman, "HP-Compaq can offer Microsoft that honking big hardware it needs for [both companies] to win."